Since 2009, we have proven we are more than just the world's 1st and largest social network of young health professionals. We are tested conveners, influencers, and mobilizers.

Convener

YP-CDN has hosted side events and represented young professionals and civil society at global events, including the UN High-Level NCD Review, World Health Assembly, the inaugural WHO Global Forum on NCDs, the World Cardiology Congress, the International AIDS Conference, the World Cancer Congress, TEDMED, and more.

YP-CDN helped launch the inaugural US Global NCD Research Symposium and has published more than 40 opinion editorials, peer-reviewed articles, and reports on NCDs, social justice, and essential medicines in places like Health Affairs, The Lancet, Bulletin of the WHO, and Huffington Post. The organization’s founding document, The Youth Manifesto on NCDs, is published in Global Heart.

Influencer

Kenya

Since 2011, over 600 young professionals in Kenya have joined YP-CDN, mainly through the active Chapters we have now in Nairobi, Thika, and Eldoret. Through our Kenya Chapter anchored at the University of Nairobi Medical School, we have reached hundreds of people with NCD awareness campaigns and cross-country dialogue alike, thanks to intergenerational partnerships involving Ministry of Health, county governments, and local NGOs. Several Kenya Chapter leaders have received grants to develop their careers and have presented at the United Nations and other global conferences.

Mexico

As part of a larger civil society effort, YP-CDN’s Mexico City chapter led a digital advocacy strategy that contributed to successfully maintaining the soda tax in Mexico in 2015. Research shows that the tax has resulted in a 12% reduction in sugary beverage purchases, particularly among the poor who are at highest risk for NCDs.

Global

Alongside many partners, YP-CDN is responsible for the addition of nearly 15% of the NCD medicines on the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML), which guides international drug procurement and donations. Some of the most significant additions include blockbuster statins for heart disease, glucagon for diabetes, bisoprolol (beta blocker), the first proton pump inhibitor for ulcers and H.pylori treatment, risperidol (atypical antipsychotic). We also advocated for the removal of the sub-standard atenolol, a beta-blocker for cardiovascular disease.

These landmark changes to the EML, the global standard for international drug procurement and donations, have already begun to trickle down: 70% percent of countries have adapted their national medicine formularies to reflect our addition of statins.

We also petitioned the WHO, in collaboration with Knowledge Ecology International, to add two live-saving anti-cancer agents: imatinib (Glivec/Gleevec, Novartis) and trastuzumab (Herceptin, Roche).

Mobilizer

In addition to these successes at the highest levels of policy, our members are using YP-CDN as a platform to mobilize incredible change on the ground all over the world. YP-CDN Board member and leukemia/lymphoma survivor, Seun Adebiyi, led the charge to create the first bone marrow and stem cell registry in Nigeria, the second of its kind in Africa. Member Alessandro Demaio launched NCDFREE to redefine the global NCD narrative, working to humanize NCDs through short films and communications.

Go back to our beginnings and watch our Founder, Dr. Sandeep Kishore, speak at the United Nations:

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We provide a voice for young professionals at the global level. We believe young people are a central catalyst for the emergence of new ideas to confront the challenge of NCDs.